Diocese of Shrewsbury Dioecesis Salopiensis
Coat of arms
Location
Country	England
Territory	Shropshire  Cheshire With parts of:  Greater Manchester  Merseyside
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Birmingham
Coordinates	52°42′29″N 2°45′14″W / 52.708°N 2.754°W / 52.708; -2.754
Statistics
Area	6,136 km2 (2,369 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2014) 1,923,400 189,827 (9.9%)
Parishes	92
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	29 September 1850; 173 years ago (1850-09-29)
Cathedral	Shrewsbury Cathedral
Secular priests	141
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Mark Davies
Metropolitan Archbishop	Bernard Longley
Vicar General	Michael Gannon Philip Moor
Episcopal Vicars	Michael Gannon Philip Moor Jonathan Mitchell David Roberts
Map
Diocese of Shrewsbury within the Province of Birmingham
Website
dioceseofshrewsbury.org

The Diocese of Shrewsbury (Latin: Dioecesis Salopiensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the Province of Birmingham which encompasses the pre-1974 counties of Shropshire and Cheshire in the North West and West Midlands of England.

The diocese includes rural areas of Shropshire as well as Manchester south of the River Mersey and other urban areas such as Birkenhead, Stockport and Ellesmere Port. The current bishop, Mark Davies, succeeded on 1 October 2010.^[1]

Geographical location

The diocese comprises the counties of Shropshire and Cheshire and the parts of Greater Manchester and Merseyside which were formerly in Cheshire. Before 1895, it also included North Wales. In 2007, new pastoral areas and regions were created, replacing the former deaneries.^[2]

Past and present bishops

Ordinaries

• James Brown (appointed 27 June 1851 – died 14 October 1881)
• Edmund James Knight (appointed 25 April 1882 – resigned 28 May 1895)
• John Carroll (succeeded 11 May 1895 – died 14 January 1897)
• Samuel Webster Allen (appointed 19 April 1897 – died 13 May 1908)
• Hugh Singleton (appointed 1 August 1908 – died 17 December 1934)
• Ambrose James Moriarty (succeeded 17 December 1934 – died 3 June 1949)
• John Aloysius Murphy (succeeded 3 June 1949 – translated to the Archdiocese of Cardiff on 22 August 1961)
• William Eric Grasar (appointed 26 April 1962 – resigned 20 March 1980)
• Joseph Gray (appointed 19 August 1980 – retired 23 June 1995)
• Brian Michael Noble (appointed 23 June 1995 – retired 1 October 2010)
• Mark Davies (current bishop, succeeded 1 October 2010)

Coadjutor Bishops

• John Carroll (1893-1895)
• Mark Davies (2009-2010)
• Ambrose James Moriarty (1931-1934)
• John Aloysius Murphy (1948-1949)

Auxiliary Bishops

• John (Jack) Brewer (1971-1983), appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Lancaster
• Edmund James Knight (1879-1882), appointed Bishop here

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

• Philip Anthony Egan, appointed Bishop of Portsmouth in 2012
• Francis Edward Joseph Mostyn, appointed Vicar Apostolic of Wales, Wales in 1895
• Gerard William Tickle, appointed Bishop of Great Britain, Military in 1963

Catholic education in the diocese

There are 112 Catholic schools and colleges serving 43,198 pupils. ^[4]

• All figures are as of August 2019

Patron saints of the diocese

1) Our Lady, Help of Christians – 24 May
2) Saint Winefride – 3 November

Parish pastoral areas and regions

On 1 October 2007, local deaneries were abolished and parishes grouped together to form 'Pastoral Areas', not as a replacement of parishes but to strengthen local Catholic communities, ensuring the sharing of services and groups and to avoid unnecessary duplication.
Each LPT (local pastoral team ) has two co-leaders (one priest; one layperson) and each region is headed by a Regional Dean.^[2]

Region A – Shropshire & Wrekin Catholic Region

Regional Dean: Stephen Coonan

Region B – Central Cheshire

Regional Dean: John Daly

Region C – North Cheshire

Regional Dean: Russell Cooke

Region D – South Trafford & Wythenshawe

Regional Dean: John Rafferty

Region E – Stockport & Tameside

Regional Dean: